Screwless electrical quick connection terminal

ABSTRACT

A screwless electrical quick-connection terminal comprising an insulated housing having at least one recess for the introduction of at least one electrical conductor. A contact element at least partially bounds this recess and is arranged in the insulated housing. At least one clamping slide having an opening is arranged displaceably transverse to the direction of introduction of the conductor into the recess. A spring cooperates with the clamping slide and strives to force such clamping slide into a position wherein the opening thereof is transversely displaced with regard to the cross-section of the recess, thus reducing the free width of said recess. The clamping slide comprises a plate member disposed at least approximately perpendicular to the conductor-introduction direction for said recess, with the contact element extending through the opening of such clamping slide-plate member. At least one edge of the opening of the clamping slide-plate member which extends parallel to the direction of displacement of such clamping slide-plate member is displaceably guided in a transverse groove of the contact element.

United States Patent [191 Woertz et al.

[451 Sept. 4, 1973 SCREWLESS ELECTRICAL QUICK-CONNECTION TERMINAL [73]Assignce: Oskar Woertz, Inh. H. & O. Woertz,

Basel, Switzerland [22] Filed: Mar. 22, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 236,876

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 1, 1971 Switzerland 4766/71[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,596,229 7/1971 Hohorst339/61 R 3,671,924 6/1972 Nagano 339/95 D 3,496,521 2/1970 Hohorst339/95 D Primary Examiner-Marvin A. Champion Assistant Examiner-RobertA. Hafer Attorney-Wemer W. Kleeman [5 7 ABSTRACT A screwless electricalquick-connection terminal comprising an insulated housing having atleast one recess for the introduction of at least one electricalconductor. A contact element at least partially bounds this recess andis arranged in the insulated housing. At least one clamping slide havingan opening is arranged displaceably transverse to the direction ofintroduction of the conductor into the recess. A spring cooperates withthe clamping slide and strives to force such clamping slide into aposition wherein the opening thereof is transversely displaced withregard to the cross-section of the recess, thus reducing the free widthof said recess. The clamping slide comprises a plate member disposed atleast approximately perpendicular to the conductor-introductiondirection for said recess, with the contact element extending throughthe opening of such clamping slide-plate member. At least one edge ofthe opening of the clamping slide-plate member which extends parallel tothe direction of displacement of such clamping slide-plate member isdisplaceably guided in a transverse groove of the contact element.

4 Claims, 6 DrawingFigures PAIENIEn 3.157. 281

Fig./ 4 29% 2 SCREWLESS ELECTRICAL QUICK-CONNECTION TERMINAL BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a new and improvedconstruction of screwless electrical quick-connection terminal orterminal block with at least one recess for introducing at least oneelectrical conductor.

In such type connection terminals or terminal blocks there are arrangedin known manner within an insulated housing a contact element which atleast partically delimits or bounds the aforementioned recess, at leastone clamping slide having an opening and displaceable transverse to theconductor infeed or introduction direction for the recess, and a springmember which cooperates with such clamping slide. This spring memberstrives to force the clamping slide into a position where its opening istransversely displaced with respect to the cross-section of the recessand thus the free width of the recess is reduced in size.

A connection terminal or terminal block of this type permits displacingthe clamping slide against the action of the spring member in such afashion that its opening comes into alignment with the cross-section ofthe recess. Then, one or a number of electrical conductors can beintroduced into the opening of the clamping slide. Thereafter byreleasing the clamping slide the thus introduced conductor can bepressed against the contact element by means of the clamping slide owingto the action of the spring member. As a result, the conductor isfixedly retained in the connection terminal and there is established anelectrical contact between the conductor and the contact element. Theadvantages which can be realized with this type of connection terminalreside in the fact that the connection and release of the conductor canbe undertaken quickly, without any great effort, and clamping of theconductor, realized by the action of the spring, cannot beunintentionally released, for instance due to jarring.

The known constructions of such type screwless conrlection terminals orterminal blocks are, however, associated with a number of drawbackswhich are intended to be overcome by the teachings of the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is a primary objective of theinstant invention to provide a screwless electrical quickconnectionterminal or terminal block of the previously mentioned type which isdesigned in such a manner that with relatively simple constructionalexpenditure there is realized a faultless clamping of the conductorwhich is to be connected and a good electrical contact is establishedbetween the conductor and the contact element of the connectionterminal, even then when in one and the same recess for introducing theconductors there are simultaneously present more than a singleconductor, and even if such conductors have different diameters.

A further significant object of the present invention relates to aconnection terminal which is relatively simple and inexpensive tomanufacture.

Now in order to implement these and still further objects of theinvention, which will become more readily apparent as the descriptionproceeds, the invention contemplates constructing the clamping slide inthe form of a plate member arranged at least approximately perpendicularto the direction of introduction of the conductors into the recess,hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as the introduction directionof the recess." The contact element piercingly extends through theopening of the clamping slide-plate member, and at least one edge of theopening of the clamping slide-plate member, which edge extends parallelto the direction of displacement of such clamping slideplate member, isdisplaceably guided in a transverse groove of the contact element.

Two oppositely sit'uated parallely extending edges of the opening of theclamping slide-plate member can be advantageously displaceably guided intwo oppositely disposed transverse grooves of the contact element.Further, the contact element can be advantageously provided with agroove or notch which in cross-section possesses a substantiallyV-shaped configuration, the

lengthwise direction of this V-shaped groove extending parallel to theintroduction direction of the recess and the flanks of the V-shapedportion of the groove each form a partial boundary for the recess. Theopening of the clamping slide-plate member can thus possess two marginalor edge portions which extend in V-shaped fashion towards one anotherand which are arranged opposite to the V-flanks of the V-shaped grooveof the contact element. The direction of displacement of the clampingslide-plate member under the influence of the spring member canadvantageously coincide with the depth direction of the V-shaped grooveof the contact element. This constructional form of connection terminalor terminal block renders possible the selective positive clamping of anumber of electrical conductors of the same or different diameter, alsoonly a single conductor having a relatively small diameter. Aparticularly good clamping action and electrical contact can be realizedif at least two similar clamping slide-plate members are arrangedadjacent one another in parallelism and are displaceably guided in thesame or in separate transverse grooves of the contact element.Furthermore, the parallel juxtapositioned clamping slideplate memberscan be subjected to the action of a common resilient or spring member.

The connection terminal can possess two aligned recesses, each of whichserves for the introduction of at least one electrical conductor. Foreach of the aforementioned recesses there is provided at least oneclamping slide-plate member and such clamping slideplate members can bedisplaceably guided in separate transverse grooves of a common contactelement. It is thus possible to associate with all of the clampingslideplate members a common flexible spring or resilient element, forinstance a wound leg spring or spiral spring or a blade spring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be better understoodand objects other than those set forth above, will become apparent whenconsideration is given to the following detailed description thereof.Such description makes reference to the annexed drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view through a preferredconstructional form of screwless electrical quick-connection terminal orterminal block with two aligned recesses, each of which serves for theintroduction of at least one electrical conductor;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the connection terminal depcted in FIG. 1 asviewed from the left side thereof;

FIG. 3 illustrates significant details of the inventive connectionterminal, partially in front view and partially in cross-sectional view,taken substantially along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1, the showing beingon a somewhat enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the connection terminal depicted inFIG. 3, taken substantially along the line IV-IV thereof;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the connection terminal depicted inFIG. 4, taken substantially along the line V-V thereof; and

FIG. 6 illustrates on a smaller scale parts of a modified embodiment ofconnection terminal in a view analogous to the showing of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Describing now thedrawings, the connection terminal or terminal block depicted in FIGS. 1and 2 will be seento embody a substantially flat insulated housing 10which is provided at two opposite flat faces of such housing, namely tothe left and right of the illustration of FIG. 1, with a respectiverecess 11 for introducing at least one electrical conductor, such as theconductors 12, 13 and 14 specifically depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3. Both ofthe recesses 11 are arranged at the insulated housing 10 so as to be insubstantial alignment with one another. A contact element 15 formed ofmetal and having the shape of a profiled rod is located internally ofthe housing 10 and extends by means of both of its end portions 15a intoeach neighboring aligned recess 11. Contact element 15 possesses acontinuous lengthwise extending groove or channel 16 having asubstantially V-shaped cross-sectional configuration, as best seen byreferring to FIGS. 2 and 3. The lengthwise direction of this V-shapedgroove 16 extends parallel to the conductor infeed or introductiondirection for the recess 11, and both of the V-flanks 16a of such V-shaped groove 16 form a respecitve partial boundary or delimiting wallfor the associated space of the corresponding recess 11 serving toreceive the conductors 12, 13 and 14.

Now as best seen by referring to FIG. 5 each end portion 15a of thecontact element 15 is provided with two opposed lateral transversegrooves or groove means 17 serving to guide clamping slide-plate members18 arranged substantially perpendicular to the lengthwise direction ofthe contact element 15 and to the conductor-introduction direction forthe recesses 11. As shown particularly well in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 theclamping slide-plate members 18 each possess a respective opening orwindow 19 through which piercingly extends the contact element 15. Morespecifically, it will be also observed that two oppositely situatedparallely extending marginal edges 20 of the opening 19 for eachclamping slide-plate member engage in the oppositely directed or opposedtransverse grooves 17 of the contact element 15, as particularly wellillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5. Hence the clamping slide-plate members 18are displaceably guided in the lengthwise direction of the edges 20 ofthe openings 19, the direction of displacement coinciding with the depthdirection of the V-shaped groove 16 of the contact element 15. Each twoimmediately parallel juxtapositioned clamping slide-plate members 18engage with the same transverse grooves l7, as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and5. The opening or window 19 of each clamping slide-plate member 18possesses two marginal edge portions 21 arranged inclined towards oneanother in a substantially V-shaped configuration and which are inclinedopposite to the inclination of the V-flanks 16a of the V-shapedlengthwise extending groove 16 of the contact element 15.

Continuing, it is also to be understood that the clamping slide-platemembers 18 are each equipped with a bore 22 through which engages aflexible spring or resilient element 23 formed of steel wire, as bestrecognized from FIGS. 3 and 4. Now FIG. 1 illustrates the manner inwhich the central portion of the spring 23 possesses one or a number ofwindings or coils 24 surrounding a pin-shaped portion 25 of the housing10. The end portions of the spring 23 form approximately linearlyextending legs 23a which strive to upwardly pivot in the showing of FIG.1, and thus tend to displace the clamping slide-plate members 18 withrespect to the contact element 15 such that the .V-shaped arranged edgeportions 21 of the openings 19 of the clamping slide-plate members 18move towards the V- flanks 16a of the V-shaped groove 16 of the contactelement 15, in order to reduce in size the inner width of the freeopening between the edge portions 21 and the flanks 16a of the groove 16as viewed in the lengthwise direction of the contact element 15. Also byreferring to FIG. 1 it will be recognized that the spring 23 isconjointly associated with each pair of clamping slide-plate memers 18arranged at each end portion 15a of the contact element 15.

The flexible spring 23 and the clamping slide-plate members 18 arehoused in suitable hollow spaces or compartments 26, 27 and 28 of theinsulated housing 10. The upper ends of the clamping slide-plate members18 as seen in FIG. 1 are accessible from the outside through the hollowspaces or compartments 28 by means of a rod-shaped auxiliary device ortool 29, for instance a screw driver, in order that the clampingslide-plate members 18 can be displaced against the action of the spring23 during such time as electrical conductors 12, 13, 14 or the like areto be introduced into the connection terminal or released therefrom. Thehollow spaces or compartments 26 and 27 as well as the non-visiblehollow space which contains the contact element 15 can be open towardsthe one flat side of the housing 10 in order to render possibleinstallation of the components 15, 18 and 23. The mentioned partiallyopen flat face of side of the housing 10 can then be provided with acover plate 30 (FIG. 2) which closes-off the hollow compartments andcovers the internal components 15, 18 and 23 of the connection terminal.However it is equally possible to omit the use of a cover-plate 30,especially in those cases where two or more of the described connectionterminals or terminal blocks are intended to be arranged in directside-byside arrangement in a row in known manner.

In a manner well known in this particular art the housing-10 is equippedwith resilient elastic legs 31 which enable clamping the connectionterminal or terminal block with a suitable conventional profile rail ormounting bar. Furthermore, a number of grooves 32 having undercut flankportions are likewise formed in conventional manner at the outside ofthe housing 10 and which serve for selectively receiving indicating tagsor marking shields 33 or the like.

With the benefit of the foregoing description of the inventiveconnection terminal there will be next considered the use and mode ofoperation thereof which is as follows: In the event it is desired tointroduce one or a number of electrical conductors, such as theconductors 12, 13, 14 and the like into one of the recesses 11 of theconnection terminal or terminal block, then initially the rod-shapedtool 29, i.e., the screw driver for instance, is placed into the openmouth of the relevant hollow compartment 28 and the two immediatelyadjacently arranged clamping slide-plate members 18 are pressed deeperinto the housing against the action of the spring 23, in other wordsdownwardly in the showing of FIG. 1. As a result these clampingslideplate members 18 are displaced with regard to the contact element15 in such a manner that the V-shaped arranged edge portions 21 of theopenings 19 move away from the flanks 16a of the V-shaped groove orchannel,

16 of the contact element 15. As a result the openings 19 are broughtinto alignment or coincidence with the cross-section of the relevantrecess 11. Now, it is possible to introduce the electrical conductor orconductors 12, 13 and 14 which have been bared of their insulation intothe open recess 11 and thereafter to release the pressure exerted viathe rod-shaped tool 29 upon the clamping slide-plate members 18. Underthe action of the spring 23 the clamping slide-plated members 18 aredisplaced back in such a manner that the V-shaped arranged edge portions21 of the openings 19 move closer to the flanks 16a of the V-shapedgroove 16 until the conductor or conductors 12, 13, 14 are pressedagainst the flanks 16a of the V-shaped groove 16 by the edge portions 21of the openings or windows 19, and thus, the conductor or conductors arefixedly clamped.

The opposed V-like arrangement of the flanks 16a of the groove 16 andthe edge portions 21 of the openings 19 of the clamping slide-platemembers 18 has the advantage that two or three electrical conductors ofthe same or different diameter can be clamped practically as good andpositively as a single conductor of large or also small diameter. InFIG. 3 there is illustrated, for instance, the situation where threeconductors 12, 13 and 14 are clamped. FIG. 2 illustrates that it isstill possible to fixedly clamp a single conductor of small diameter.

The introduction of one or a number of conductors into the other recess1 1 of the connection terminal can take place similar to theabove-described procedures. Each leg of the spiral spring 23 iselastically flexible independently of the other leg, so that bothrecesses 11 of the connection terminal can be also manipulatedindividually and independently of one another.

The varient embodiment of connection terminal depicted in FIG. 6 differsfrom the above-described construction, firstly in that instead of usinga spiral spring 23 with a wound central portion 24 there is provided ablade spring 23' supported by its central portion upon a pin-shapedcarrier or support element 25 of the housing. A further differenceresides in the fact that the clamping slide-plate members 18 which, ineach instance form a pair, are guided in separate transverse grooves ofthe contact element 15, so that the clamping slide-plate members 18possess a certain spacing from one another. The remaining constructionof this embodiment of connection terminal can be the same as thatconsidered for the first embodiment discussed above in connection withFIGS. 1 to 5.

Both constructional embodiments of connection terminal, in contrast tothe'conventional screwless connection terminals, possess the advantagethat the clamping slides 18 constructed as plate members produce abetter electrical contact with the clamped conductors and the clampedconductor or conductors are also secured much better against beingpulled out of the connection terminal than was possible when employingthe previously known constructions of clamping slides. Theaforementioned advantage is realized by the features that the clampingmarginal or edge portions 21 of the openings 19 of the relatively thinclamping slide-plate members 18 tend to conform much better to themomentary shape of the conductor and to come into much snugger contacttherewith and also tend to somewhat penetrate into the material of theconductor so that larger contact surfaces prevail. As a result slidingout of the once-clamped conductor is also partially form-lockinglyprevented or at least rendered more difficult. The describedconstructional embodiments of inventive connection terminals or terminalblocks also especially tend to distinguish themselves by virtue of theirrelatively simple construction and their simplicity in fabrication andassembly.

While there is shown and described present preferred embodiments of theinvention, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is notlimited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practicedwithin the scope of the following claims.

Accordingly, what is claimed is:

l. A screwless electrical quick-connection terminal comprising aninsulated housing provided with at least one recess for the introductionof at least one electrical conductor, a contact element at leastpartially bounding said recess arranged in said insulated housing, atleast one clamping slide having an opening for the introduction of aconductor, said clamping slide being arranged to be displaceablesubstantially transverse to the direction of introduction of theconductor into said recess, a spring formed of wire with a coil portionsecured to said housing by pin means cooperating with said clampingslide said spring including a leg portion extending from said coilportion in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction ofdisplacement of said clamping slide and moveably engaging said clampingslide to force said clamping slide into a position wherein the openingthereof is transversely displaced with regard to the cross-section ofthe recess, thus reducing the free width of said recess for fixedlyclamping a conductor therein, said clamping slide comprising a platemember disposed at least approximately perpendicular to theconductor-introduction direction for said recess and including aperturemeans for cooperatively engaging said spring leg portion, said contactelement extending through the opening of said clamping slide platemember, said contact element having transverse groove means, saidopening of said clamping slide-plate member being bounded by marginaledges, and wherein at least one marginal edge of said openingwhich'extends parallel to the direction of displacement of said clampingslide-plate member is displaceably guided in said transverse groovemeans of said contact element.

2. The connection terminal as defined in claim 1 wherein said contactelement is provided with a further transverse groove means situatedopposite the first mentioned transverse groove means, and wherein twoopposite substantially parallel extending edges of said opening of theclamping slide-plate member are displaceably guided in said twooppositely situated transverse groove means of said contact element, atleast two similar planar clamping slide plates with aligned boxes forreceiving said spring leg portion arranged directly behind one anotherand conjointly displaceably guided in the same transverse grooves ofsaid contact element, said spring leg portion engaging said bores ofboth clamping slide plates.

3. The connection terminal as defined in claim 1, wherein said contactelement possesses a groove which possesses a substantially V-shapedcross-sectional configuration, the lengthwise direction of said V-shapedgroove extending substantially parallel to the conductor-introductiondirection for the recess, said V-shaped groove having V-flanks each ofwhich form a partial boundary for said recess, and wherein the directionof displacement of said clamping slide-plate member under the influenceof said spring coincides with the depth direction of said V-shapedgroove said opening of said clamping slide-plate member possesses twoedges which extend towards one another in a substantially V-shapedmanner and which are inclined opposite to the V-flanks of said V-shapedgroove of said contact element.

4. The connection terminal as defined in claim 1 wherein said housing isprovided with an additional recess, both of said recesses being insubstantial alignment with one another, each of said recesses servingfor the introduction of at least one electrical conductor, at least onesuch clamping slide-plate member being provided for each recess, saidcontact element being common to both recesses, said contact elementhaving separate transverse groove means, and each of said clampingslide-plate members being displaceably guided in one of the seperatetransverse groove means of said common contact element, said springhaving a second leg portion which protrudes from said coil in oppositedirection to said first mentioned leg portion, each of said leg portionscooperatively engaging at least one of the clamping slides.

1. A screwless electrical quick-connection terminal comprising aninsulated housing provided with at least one recess for the introductionof at least one electrical conductor, a contact element at leastpartially bounding said recess arranged in said insulated housing, atleast one clamping slide having an opening for the introduction of aconductor, said clamping slide being arranged to be displaceablesubstantially transverse to the direction of introduction of theconductor into said recess, a spring formed of wire with a coil portionsecured to said housing by pin means cooperating with said clampingslide said spring including a leg portion extending from said coilportion in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction ofdisplacement of said clamping slide and moveably engaging said clampingslide to force said clamping slide into a position wherein the openingthereof is transversely displaced with regard to the cross-section ofthe recess, thus reducing the free width of said recess for fixedlyclamping a conductor therein, said clamping slide comprising a platemember disposed at least approximately perpendicular to theconductor-introduction direction for said recess and including aperturemeans for cooperatively engaging said spring leg portion, said contactelement extending through the opening of said clamping slideplatemember, said contact element having transverse groove means, saidopening of said clamping slide-plate member being bounded by marginaledges, and wherein at least one marginal edge of said opening whichextends parallel to the direction of displacement of said clampingslide-plate member is displaceably guided in said transverse groovemeans of said contact element.
 2. The connection terminal as defined inclaim 1 wherein said contact element is provided with a furthertransverse groove means situated opposite the first mentioned transversegroove means, and wherein two opposite substantially parallel extendingedges of said opening of the clamping slide-plate member aredisplaceably guided in said two oppositely situated transverse groovemeans of said contact element, at least two similar planar clampingslide plates with aligned boxes for receiving said spring leg portionarranged directly behind one another and conjointly displaceably guidedin the same transverse grooves of said contact element, said spring legportion engaging said bores of both clamping slide plates.
 3. Theconnection terminal as defined in claim 1, wherein said contact elementpossesses a groove which possesses a substantially V-shapedcross-sectional configuration, the lengthwise direction of said V-shapedgroove extending substantially parallel to the conductor-introductiondirection for the recess, said V-shaped groove having V-flanks each ofwhich form a partial boundary for said recess, and wherein the directionof displacement of said clamping slide-plate member under the influenceof said spring coincides with the depth direction of said V-shapedgroove said opening of said clamping slide-plate member possesses twoedges which extend towards one another in a substantially V-shapedmanner and which are inclined opposite to the V-flanks of said V-shapedgroove of said contact element.
 4. The connection terminal as defined inclaim 1 wherein said housing is provided with an additional recess, bothof said recesses being in substantial alignment with one another, eachof said recesses serving for the introduction of at least one electricalconductor, at least one such clamping slide-plate member being providedfor each recess, said contact element being common to both recesses,said contact element having separate transverse groove means, and eachof said clamping slide-plate members being displaceably guided in one ofthe seperate transverse groove means of said common contact element,said spring having a second leg portion which protrudes from said coilin opposite direction to said first mentioned leg portion, each of saidleg portions cooperatively engaging at least one of the clamping slides.